June 2008
55 posts
Return Path: MAAWG's Latest Documents Improve... →
J.D. explains what MAAWG’s freshly documented best common practices actually mean for email
ZDnet: ICANN and IANA’s domains hijacked by... →
“The official domains of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority were hijacked earlier today…”
David Cawley explains how this attack could used for bad email, too.
Freakonomics (New York Times): Why Do You Lie? The... →
“Not only does it deliver a surprising insight into why we lie, but it is also a sobering reminder to naturally distrust self-reported data…”
PC World: Woman Gets Two Years for Aiding Nigerian... →
“Edna Fiedler pleaded guilty in March to attempting to defraud U.S. citizens in a scheme known as a Nigerian check scam.”
PC World: Antispam Group Outlines Defenses to... →
Jeremy Kirk talks to Richard Cox of Spamhaus about MAAWG’s latest best practices documents
A VC: Losing A Phone - A Social Media Security... →
Fred Wilson muses about (in effect) his habit of saving security credentials on an insecure device
SC Magazine US: Szirbi botnet causes spam to... →
Washington Post: Former Customers Off Limits To... →
“Verizon had been using its proprietary data to contact former customers and try to persuade them to give the company another try. But a majority of members of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday said such practices are illegal and infringe a consumer’s privacy.”
This may (and probably should) apply to other companies which collect data about customers.
(via...
TheSpoof.com: Prime Minister presents first annual... →
congratulations to winner James W. Anker!
ClickZ: Get the "And" Out! →
that complex privacy policy that nobody reads might satisfy the legal requirements for notice, but not the human requirements for making an informed choice.
guess which one affects deliverability?
Deliverability.com: When email marketers and... →
J.D.’s comment on deliverability.com describes why “double opt-in” is the wrong term, and why that makes some people angry.
(whether those people are sane or not is a different discussion)
New York Times Digital Domain: In the E-Mail... →
an interesting review of the reliability of message delivery throughout history, with a surprisingly accurate depiction of how email works
(via deliverability.com)
FTC Halts Cross Border Con Artists →
“A U.S. District Court Judge has ordered a halt to the illegal practices of Canadian operators who deceptively posed as domain name registrars and sent bogus bills….”
Spam Resource: When Terminology Attacks →
an extreme example of bad terminology (“double opt-in”) getting in the way of useful conversation
(hint: “double opt-in” is not double. think about it.)
duncanriley.com: NAB Spams Blogs →
‘…the National Australia Bank “spammed” the comments sections of private blogs in an attempt to secure free promotion for the launch of its new SMS banking service.’
The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the... →
“Google’s founding philosophy is that we don’t know why this page is better than that one: If the statistics of incoming links say it is, that’s good enough. No semantic or causal analysis is required.”
It only takes a slight change to make this about sender reputation - “We don’t know why this sender is better than that one: If the statistics of...
Washington Post Security Fix: Anonymous Domain... →
Brian Krebs links anonymous registrations, the KnujOn registrar report (which he & Outblaze confirmed), and Scott Richter’s spam operations (among other nefarious activities.) Well done!
Keter_Magick: eBay Fraud - Got the S.O.B.! →
a single user catches a single scammer — but it’s a good start
NPR: Help! Family Spam Is Crushing My Inbox! →
“Canning family-generated spam can be tough, because it’s hard to confront an offender you also love.” NPR provides etiquette tips.
People like to share: Are social networks doomed... →
yes
New York Times: How to Block Cellphone Spam →
short version: beg your mobile provider to tell you where they’ve hidden the option to not accept messages from the internet
Yahoo! News: Former 'spam King' Must Pay MySpace... →
“Scott Richter of Westminster, Colorado, must pay MySpace $4.8 million in damages and $1.2 million in legal fees….”
ClickZ: What Whitelisting's Evolution Means for... →
Derek Harding provides a good, quick rundown of the history of whitelisting, just in time for the practice to be phased out entirely by major ISPs (more on that soon)
(via deliverability.com)
Dark Reading: Researchers Link Storm Botnet to... →
‘By converting spam into high-value pharmaceutical purchases, IronPort says, these supply chain enterprises allow the “monetization” of spamming botnets, providing an enormous profit motivation for botnet attacks.’
(via fergdawg)
STAT Blog: Registrars Release Suspended Domains to... →
“A new outbreak of SQL attacks…using a much larger number of domains than seen in previous months. …Many of these are previously suspended domains that registrars have released back to the attackers.”
(via circleid)
Bronto Blog: Petition to Ban The Phrase "Email... →
DJ Waldo writes that ‘“Email Blast” sends the wrong message about email marketing. It is impersonal and cold.’
We here at Box of Meat heartily agree. “Blast” gives the impression of something one-way, and violent, and if you don’t want to be hit by it that’s just too damn bad.
What we question is DJ’s assumption that “blast” is...
The Gripe Line: FTC says yes, you still Can Spam →
Ed Foster doesn’t see any silver lining to CAN SPAM, even with the latest rulings
Australian IT: Online crooks up the ante →
“security heavyweights concede ordinary users can no longer deal with the threats”
(via fergdawg)
The Spam Diaries: A rising new threat: ransom-ware →
virus infects your computer, encrypts files, and asks for money to decrypt ‘em
Word to the Wise: Marketers missing out →
referencing a recent study from Return Path, Laura reminds us that “[s]enders MUST learn to step up and uphold their end of the sender - recipient relationship.”
As every good marketer knows, marketing is a conversation, not just one person shouting at the other whenever they feel like it, like in some weird surrealist play. And along with talking, you also have to listen.
Seth's Blog: The cure →
see also: fussp
PC World: Spear-phishing Attacks Have Hooked... →
targeted phishing attacks, aimed at corporate executives and others, prove extremely successful
Deliverability.com: Wake up classmates, you just... →
after 10+ years, classmates.com continues to be a very good example of how not to run a social network
MarketingProfs Knowledge Exchange: Lawyer Hell!... →
This thread is a clear example of marketers trying to find ways to avoid taking responsibility for the mail they send, even when that violates the law. Is it any wonder that nobody trusts senders?
MailChannels Offers Load Testing Tool →
I remember joking, years ago, that we could load-test servers by posting “email me for free porn!” to usenet. Looks like MailChannels has discovered a better way, and they’re offering it to the community.
ZDNet Australia: Recruiters auto-forward... →
“Hackers are exploiting an email-forwarding feature offered by many recruitment firms, which automatically sends relevant resumes to customers when a new applicant uploads their CV to the recruitment firm’s website. …The Word document included an embedded PDF file, containing details about a candidate claiming to apply for an accounts officer position — but it also contained an...
BBC NEWS: Child porn arrests in Australia →
a colleague writes “This piece is both horrifying in terms of content and the clever way in which kiddie porn is now broken up into fragments, served on multiple legit photo hosting sites, and assembled by the pervert who downloads the various pieces.”
how long until these same techniques are used in advertising?
PlagiarismToday: The Rise of Made-For-Amazon Spam →
along with google adsense and yahoo! overture ads, spam blogs & similar sites are turning to the amazon affiliate program
OnlyOnce: Book Short: How, Now →
“What type of organization do you run? One based on Anarchy & Lawlessness, one based on Blind Obedience, one based on Informed Acquiescence, or one of Values-Based Self-Governance?”
Email Marketing Reports: Win by being less crap... →
a lot of marketers still aren’t following best practices, which creates opportunities for those who are.
(nothing particularly new here, but I like the historical perspective — and the headline)
San Jose Mercury News: Courts mustn't stifle... →
citing the recent decision in e360 vs. Comcast, Seth Cooper of the freemarketarian American Legislative Exchange Council argues that ISPs must be allowed to use technology to protect their users from spam.
(via intellectual intercourse)
Network World: Hong Kong, China Web domains cited... →
McAfee reports that .info, .hk, and .cn are the top-level domains most likely to contain dangerous sites — most likely because it’s so easy for criminals to register a great many domains there cheaply
(via circleid)
Word to the Wise: ISP Spam →
Laura describes the Nigerian/419 scammers’ tactics in using freemail accounts to send spam, and why it’s been getting worse at gmail
Techdirt: Inside Craigslist's Increasingly... →
a service founded on trusting its users is, inevitably, being attacked by untrustworthy users. this article links to forums discussing ways to attack craigslist’s defenses.
(it sounds a lot like what the spammers did to eBay — shame those two can’t get along.)